(Washington)

Polls have Biden well ahead of President Trump at the moment. In fact, some pollsters say that Biden is further ahead leading up to election day than any candidate in the last 20 years. Markets have somewhat followed this and are clearly anticipating a Biden victory. That said, there is almost nobody who doesn’t think the race will be very close. So, how to play it if Trump surprises the markets and wins? Three sectors seem like they would benefit most strongly: traditional energy companies, defense companies, and large-cap banks. Trump’s light-touch regulatory approach would help energy companies and large banks, while defense spending would probably continue to rise under Trump.

FINSUM: Most agree that if Trump surprises, the market is not going to shoot higher like it did in 2016, primarily because there is not a big proposed tax cut.

(San Francisco)

There are rising fears about the potential over-valuation of big tech megacaps. While they have risen very strongly this year, their P/E ratios are not the only worry. Regulations are also weighing on investors’ minds, especially after the announcement of the anti-trust probe by the DOJ into Google. That has not stopped the stocks from rallying, however. Most investors are betting that the government’s numerous overtures about anti-trust moves (which have come from both sides of the aisle) are merely saber-rattling.

FINSUM: As it concerns large cap value versus big tech stocks, the answer is simple—it seems like time to buy both. Big tech may keep rising, but there is enough fear to keep other large cap stocks rising as we enter a prolonged recovery, as they have been for several weeks.

(New York)

Dividends have had a tough year. Because of the pandemic, many companies have had to cut their dividends in the face of losses or declining profitability. Even some who have maintained or raised dividends cannot really afford to do so. Therefore stable, rising dividends with healthy underlying companies are very prized right now. Here are some good names to look at: Whirlpool, Avery Dennison, American Electric Power, and Crown Castle International. All four have recently raised their dividends on the back of robust business. Whirlpool, a major appliance manufacturer seems to be riding the home improvement wave, while Avery Dennison, which makes packaging, is likely benefitting from ecommerce gains. The others (a utility and a cell tower company) have inherently durable businesses.

FINSUM: Cell towers, utilities, and packaging materials seem like very strong areas even if the pandemic gets worse this winter, and there is almost zero rate risk at present.

(New York)

A new study from Cerulli Associates has found that wirehouses are performing very well in one regard—advisor productivity. The average wirehouse advisor has $175m in AUM, almost double the industry average of $77.9m. Even more amazingly, wirehouse productivity has risen from an average of $148m at the end of 2018 (to $175m at the end of 2019). However, wirehouses are still shedding many advisors to RIAs and IBDs. Cerulli identified two key reasons why. The first is as old as the industry itself—compensation. According to Cerulli, wirehouse advisors are growing increasingly tired of “complicated and sporadically changing compensation grids”. Additionally, support staff is an area where advisors are frustrated, reporting a lack of support staff as an issue at a far higher rates than at other BDs and RIAs.

FINSUM: Wirehouse advisors currently enjoy two advantages—brand strength and scalable firm-wide technologies. Neither is enough to stem the current outflows of advisors, and the technology aspect is quickly being eroded by improving tech stacks for independent advisors.

(Washington)

Markets and polls are favoring Joe Biden to win the presidency, and markets think there are increasing odds that a blue sweep could occur. So if Democrats take over, what does the regulatory environment look like in wealth management? According to legal and policy experts there are a number of key changes. One big high-level difference between Trump and Biden is that Trump has always favored a principals-based approach to regulation in an effort to lower the compliance burden on companies. Biden would adopt a more rules-based approach with stricter enforcement. Here are five key items that would likely change under a new administration: restarting the debate on Reg BI (i.e. trying to get rid of it or modify it), move towards a rules-based approach in many areas, revive the CFPB, create a public credit reporting agency within the CFPB, and replace SEC commissioner Jay Clayton.

FINSUM: All of this makes perfect sense with what Democrats are signaling. We have another key item to add to the list—killing the new DOL proposal and replacing it with a more robust fiduciary standard either through the SEC or DOL.

(New York)

Large cap value is a very interesting area at the moment. Over the last few weeks there has been a pickup in breadth, with gainers outpacing losers 2-to-1. Megacap tech stocks are not leading the market like they were early on in the recovery. That means the chances for broad market gains are looking stronger. With that in mind, large cap value looks like an excellent choice. Compared to small and midcaps, large caps are less volatile and more diversified. They do have more international exposure (which could be a positive or a negative), but on the whole they appear as though they have as much or more upside potential with less downside risk.

FINSUM: If you believe in a coming broad-based rally in stocks, then large cap value seems like a good place to be.

(New York)

The yield environment is a terrible one for anyone who is seeking income from their investments, especially those in retirement who may be living on a fixed income. So where can investors seek strong domestic yields? Check out mortgage REITs. Mortgage REITs have long offered some of the highest yields in markets because of the leverage they utilize. Most of the group have yields over 10%. Look at the following names as an example: AGNC Investment Corp. (AGNC, yield 10.2%), Annaly Capital Management, Inc (NLY, 12.9%), Anworth Mortgage Asset Corporation (NH, 14%), and Armour Residential REIT (ARR, 12.3%).

FINSUM: So obviously mortgage REITs have significant interest rate risk, but can you imagine a period where interests rates seem less likely to rise?

(Washington)

The market has been increasingly betting that Biden is going to win the election, but there is still a great deal of uncertainty. The outcomes seem like almost diametrically opposed routes for the country, and accordingly it feels like many asset classes could head in opposite directions depending on the outcome. With that in mind, Savvas Savouri of ToscaFund Asset Management, has published a very interesting and clear diagram explaining how each asset class will react to either a Trump or Biden win (see above). The most interesting thing about this is how similar the response will be across several asset classes. For example, no matter who wins, it appears likely that commodities, gold, US domestic staples, and exporters will gain, while in either scenario, Treasuries, REITs, and the Dollar will lose.

FINSUM: This is an excellent diagram that gives a concise view on how things may change following either a Biden or Trump victory. Two things jump out to us here. Firstly, that tech shares look likely to lose if there is a blue wave; and secondly, that the Dollar is headed down in either outcome, so exporters are likely to do well. It is easy to imagine that a blue wave would result in a broad rally of the S&P 500 that is not led by tech.

(Houston)

When you think of oil, you don’t normally think of an industry that would gain from a big win by Democrats in an election. But as it happens, oil could very well gain if Democrats sweep the presidency and congress. The reason why is slightly perverse, but that makes it no less relevant. The concept is that Democrats would be bring new regulation around fracking; specifically, regulations that limit new drilling but allow existing projects. What this would mean is a steady rise in prices as inventory becomes constrained as the recovery proceeds. For example, Morgan Stanley is forecasting almost a 100% gain in natural gas prices next year.

FINSUM: Oil and gas are a physical supply and demand market, and if regulations keep supply in the ground, then prices will rise.

(New York)

Investors are increasingly betting on a blue wave. More interestingly, the market’s calculus for what that blue wave to could mean to stock prices and the economy is changing. For much of this election cycle, a sweep by the Democrats was seen as a negative for the economy versus the status quo. However, in recent weeks investors have been shifting the other way—seeing a blue wave as a win for the economy. The reason why has to do with infrastructure spending and bigger and longer-term stimulus packages. While the possibility for this has been hurting Treasury prices because of the likely increased debt load, it also means that both infrastructure stocks and small caps seem poised to gain as we approach the election and well after it.

FINSUM: Small caps have just recently started to outperform their large cap cousins, a sign of the shift in perspective. Infrastructure stocks seem a good bet because no matter who wins the election there will probably be some deal on that front.